Officials to Disperse Rabies Vaccine Bait via Airplane
Vindy.Com
15 April 2006
William Alcorn
YOUNGSTOWN — An oral rabies vaccination operation, aimed at halting the westward spread of raccoon rabies, begins Tuesday in five Northeast Ohio counties.
The oral vaccination operation was moved west in 2004 when rabid raccoons were found in Lake and Cuyahoga counties, indicating the original barrier consisting of Ohio counties along the Pennsylvania and West Virginia borders had been breached, Ohio health department officials said. Forty-six animals tested positive for rabies in those five counties in 2004.
The supplemental spring operation, which continues through April 28, is essential to control raccoon-strain rabies in Ohio, said Dr. J. Nick Baird, director of the Ohio Department of Health.
Coupled with the fall baiting, this operation will help protect wildlife, domestic animals and people from this mostly fatal disease, Dr. Baird said.
The operation is coordinated by ODH, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services program.
Pakistan Confirms H5N1 Bird Flu Outbreak Near Islamabad
People's Daily Online
17 April 2006
Officials in Pakistan on Sunday confirmed the second outbreak of deadly H5N1 bird flu strain at a poultry farm near the capital Islamabad.
"During the on-going surveillance for Avian Influenza, a suspect outbreak was reported at a small poultry farm in Sihala, some 25 kilometers from Islamabad on April 14," Livestock and Animal Husbandry Commissioner Dr. Muhammad Afzal said.
"Clinically the disease was suggested as Avian Influenza," Afzal said.
He said immediately after the report that samples were taken for test while the whole flock of 3,500 layer pullets was destroyed with the cooperation of the owner, the Pakistan Poultry Association and government agencies as a precaution to curtail any chances of its further spread.
Afzal said that following the laboratory test reports showing the presence of Avian Influenza H5NI, the surveillance zone of 3 km around the infected farm had been declared in which all farms are being sampled for monitoring.
No comments:
Post a Comment